It's This Feeling that You Can't Fight
by Love the Starry Night
Summary: It's not so much the life as it is the person you're living it with. Drabblefic. Sasusaku.


After a day of chasing around her mentor and coercing her with hard liquor and snacks to finish signing the mound of paperwork waiting on her desk, it was with great relief that Sakura finally returned to her house and began running a bath. As the claw-footed tub (which she had discovered delightedly at the weekly street market in the Konohagakure shopping district) filled with hot, steaming water, she shucked her civilian's clothes, tossing them in the wicker basket outside the bathroom door. Yanking out the band that had been holding her pink hair up, she gingerly stepped into the near-boiling water and settled her back against the sloped end, stretching her long legs out in front of her. She wasn't particularly sore-she wouldn't be much of a kunoichi if a day full of activity defeated her-but it was still nice to relax.

There was a muted knock at the front door on the first floor, followed by the sound of the bolt being slid back and the door swinging open. "Sakura?"

"In here, Sasuke!" she called, not bothering to try covering herself up. He'd seen it all before anyway. Hell, he'd made a point of _memorizing _it. The bathroom door opened with a creak-_I need to oil the hinges_, Sakura thought-and Sasuke came in. He was still in his flak vest and hitai-ate, and looking moderately banged up. "The mission went well, I take it?" she asked as he came to kneel at the same end she was resting in. She leaned her head back to look at him upside down.

"It was fine," Sasuke said, both hands on either side of her face as he began rubbing her temples.

"You're all bruised and bloodied. It couldn't have gone so smoothly as to warrant a simple 'fine.'"

Sasuke shrugged. "Ambush by some independents. We took care of them."

"Independents made the great Uchiha Sasuke look like he rubbed up against a meat grinder?"

"There was a trap. Naruto got distracted and didn't notice it until he'd tripped the wire. Stop making fun of me," Sasuke said petulantly at Sakura's expression. He merely got a smile in return. His fingertips ghosted down the sides of her face and along her throat. His tone changed, and his voice lowered as he asked, "May I join you?"

His murmured request sounded humble, as though he didn't think he deserved to even ask. Turning over to look at him directly, Sakura said, "That would make me very happy."

Sasuke rose and untied his headband, folding it and placing it on the edge of the sink. He then unzipped his flak vest, hanging it on the doorknob as he shut the door, and grabbed his shirt by the back of the collar, pulling it over his head. The shirt went into the hamper, followed by his pants and underwear, and he stepped into the tub, sinking into a sitting position. She drew her legs in and sat indian-style to make room for him.

There were scrapes on the side of his face, and a rather deep cut on his chin. A bandage was wrapped around his bicep, but above and beside the ANBU tattoo, on his shoulder, open knife wounds still bled freely. Sakura made a mental note to check for holes on his discarded shirt.

"You really are a mess," Sakura commented.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted in reply. He scooted forward and leaned in closer to her, resting his hands on the bottom of the tub on either side of her as she rubbed a wet washcloth with a bar of soap and brought it to his cheek, the fingers of her free hand tangling in his unkempt hair. He listened to her soft breathing, watched her eyes move around different spots on his face. The wet ends of her short pink hair stuck to her neck. He dragged the fingertips of one hand lightly up her spine, resting them at her nape as he leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers.

Later, they stood at Sakura's stove and made dinner together in a comfortable silence, exchanging quiet words every now and then when they had something to say. They talked about nothing in particular, and in that moment it was as if nothing in particular was less important than the act itself of talking. Perhaps it was because they had been through more in one lifetime than other lovers had in ten, but talk felt both valuable and cheap to them; valuable, because they could do it more easily than they could ever before, and cheap, because they were at a point in their relationship where sometimes they didn't need words to understand what they wanted to say to each other.

They sat down to eat at their pinewood kitchen table, offering thanks for the meal before tucking in.

"I was thinking about the bedroom," Sakura said a little ways into the meal. "The walls are a bit...dark."

"You want to paint it?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes. Something nice and light. I don't know how I'll have time, though. Between chasing Shishou around and going on missions. And let's not forget the mentorship I was stupid enough to sign up for."

Sasuke bit down on a chuckle as he looked steadily down into his miso soup. Sakura noticed his reaction and said petulantly, "I wouldn't be laughing, oh great one. I know for a fact that Shishou's been leaning hard on you to sign up too. Especially since you _finally_ made jounin." Sasuke flashed her a none-too-amused expression and filled his mouth with more soup.

"What color?" he asked eventually.

Sakura gazed off into the distance thoughtfully, her hands curled around her cup. "Oh, I don't know. Nothing too exotic. Blue might be nice. A really light blue, like the sky in the morning."

Sasuke pictured waking up next to his better half, surrounded by walls of the color she had suggested. It was a very relaxing thought. "I like blue."

Sakura smiled at him. "Do you have any leave yet? We could take some time off next month. Might be nice to have a vacation, anyway. Maybe we could go to the beach, too."

They finished dinner and, after cleaning the dishes, went out for a walk before it got too late. The quiet residential street they lived on was bathed in the orange-gold light of the early evening, shining off windows that seemed right then more like mirrors. A crystal wind chime hung from the overhang of a porch, scattering shards of sunlight onto the pavement like molten rain as it twisted and twirled in the breeze.

"So where did Naruto and the others go? To get their wounds treated?" Sakura asked.

"Home."

"If yours were any indication, those boys probably need stitches," Sakura muttered.

"They're fine," Sasuke said, squeezing her hand.

Back home, they carried out their nightly routine. Sasuke locked all the doors and closed and latched all the windows, turning off the kitchen and living room lights while Sakura washed her face and brushed her teeth, changing into a nightgown and crawling into bed. Soon her other half made his way back to their room, after having washed and brushed and changed himself. The sounds of the sink running had soothed Sakura, and by the time Sasuke slipped into bed with her she was already laying on her stomach half asleep. He reached over and stroked her hair away from her face, and soon they both were asleep.

**A/N: **I like to think of Sasuke and Sakura as one of those couples that seem like they've been together for years. It seems fitting for them, especially considering all the sh!t they've had to go through. I think they'd enjoy a quiet life together when not tied up with shinobi duties. Oh, did anyone notice the reference to a popular SS theme? It's definitely one of my favorites.


End file.
